


Dusk Before Dawn

by Nix501st



Series: TWEWY in Traverse Town [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Joshua is a genie, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Male/Male Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:49:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1235563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nix501st/pseuds/Nix501st
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beat finds himself being confronted by Joshua about what he fears most. However, Beat is unwilling to share with Joshua exactly what it is. Neither confronting his nightmares nor dealing with Joshua have ever been Beat's forte, but now he's found himself forced to do both (Sequel to Contemplations).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmares

First, everything was dark. Not dark as in it was completely dark and Beat couldn't see, but dark as in he could only just make out his surroundings. Beat knew he was in a cave of some sort; how he had gotten there wasn't really important. What  _was_  important was how he was getting out. So, he started forward, the only sounds coming from his shoes as they hit the ground.

_Clip, clip, clip…_

Beat frowned at hearing that noise. Was there someone else in here with him? Suddenly, Beat's breath caught in his throat as a strange, inexplicable panic set in. He needed to get away; he needed to get away right now!

But something was driving him forward: he couldn't turn around. He had to keep going. The noise was getting louder and louder, and Beat found himself starting to hyperventilate. The room was getting darker and the sound had sped up.

_Huhn, huhn, huhn…!_

Without warning, the sound terminated in a high-pitched giggle. Beat was finally able to stop breathing so fast—he guessed that it was probably because his blood had frozen solid. He recognized that voice—he could recognize it anywhere! He stared straight ahead, unwilling to show  _her_  how afraid he was.

But when Mitsuki Konishi brought Rhyme's pin out of her pocket, Beat's façade shattered completely. Seeing nothing but red, Beat charged for her because he would _not_ let this happen again. To his utter horror, Konishi dropped Rhyme's pin to the ground and lifted her foot. He screeched to a stop. Beat wanted to shout at her not to do it, but he found that he couldn't say anything, only wave his hands frantically and shake his head. No, no, no,  _no!_

Konishi looked back up at him and gave him a chilling smile, her foot still hovering ominously over the pin.

_((This is all your fault, you know))_

Beat was still just standing there, despite the fact that he was trying to move, trying to save Rhyme, and trying not to fail because he'd done enough of that already. He reached out to the pin, hoping that by some miracle it would fly to him so he could keep it safe.

_((And it will always be your fault))_

Konishi giggled again, and brushed her hair out of her face. With that wicked grin, Konishi brought her foot down sharply and shattered the pin—shattered Rhyme!—into a thousand pieces, and fragments of her slid across the ground and rested at his feet.

_((Failure))_

* * *

With a jolt, Beat woke up. He was panting and a thick sheen of sweat covered his body. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest and his face felt wet…

Beat sat up sharply and looked around wildly, not recognizing his surroundings. Where was he, where was he?! Then it all came back to him. Traverse Town. He was sleeping in the Hotel that Neku and Rhyme had found. That was where everyone slept.

Beat slowly reached up and touched his face, only for his fingers to come away wet.

"Shit…" Beat whispered, although it sounded like a whimper to him. He took a long and shaky breath, and then began rubbing his eyes. Beat wasn't going to let anyone know that he'd been crying from another nightmare.

Everyone had nightmares, Beat knew that. But he thought that he might be—no—Beat was absolutely positive that he was the only one who woke up crying still. A part of him just wanted to let it all out, though, to just bawl and let it all out—but he couldn't. He had to be strong. If he cried, that meant the nightmares had beaten him, and he wasn't going to allow that.

He needed to get out of here. It didn't matter what time it was; Beat just needed to get outside, run around in a place that wasn't Shibuya, and force himself to stop crying. It didn't matter that he was still wearing a pair of pajamas; Beat just wanted to stop thinking about Konishi's coming back and killing Rhyme, his being  _completely unable to stop her, it's your fault, it's your fault, it's_ always _your fault!_

"Fuck…!" Beat sobbed, rubbing his face again. He quickly got up from the bed and rushed to the door to the hallway. Flinging it open, Beat charged down the corridors and ran outside. A small chill descended upon him from the air, but he ignored it. Choosing a random direction, Beat took off running.

It was what he'd always done when his parents had upset him. He'd run off. But one can't run away from nightmares. They always follow close behind.

"Beat, what on earth are you doing up at this hour?" a familiar voice chimed from above. Beat, however, didn't stop to talk. He needed to keep moving, or everything would catch up with him. In any case, Beat couldn't deal with Joshua right now. So, he just ran by, ignoring the other kid completely.

Beat whirled around a corner and rushed into the Third District, only to see Joshua standing in front of him.

"It's rude to ignore people, you know," Joshua told Beat, giving him a disapproving stare.

"What d'you want…?" Beat glared at Joshua.

"I want to know why you're acting so weak right now," Joshua scoffed, brushing his hair aside in a prissy fashion. Immediately, Beat's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms tightly over his chest

"The hell are you talkin' about?" Beat snarled. "Jus' get outta here, Joshua, I ain't in the mood." With that said, Beat spun around and started to run the other way, only to be intercepted by a fish-looking Nightmare charging him. He barely hopped out of the way.

"Running away isn't going to solve anything, Beat," Joshua piped up from behind him. Beat's breath caught for a second, and then he balled his fists tightly.

The Nightmare in front of him charged again, snapping widely. It didn't look like a simple fish to Beat. It looked more like a shar—

"Beat!" Joshua snapped, pulling him out of the way of the attack, "get ahold of yourself!"

Beat looked down at Joshua sharply, and then shook his head to clear it. Several different Nightmares had already popped up and surrounded them.

"Are you honestly going to let some shark look-alike Dream Eater defeat you?" Joshua asked, still looking at Beat. "Don't you think it's time for a beat down?"

Beat's eyes widened at the use of one of his phrases. For a second, all he could do was stare. Then he spun around to face the nearest Nightmare and delivered a ferocious punch.

* * *

Beat plopped to the ground, breathing heavily. He leaned back against the wall and started to work on getting his breathing back to normal. After a while, he glanced up to see that Joshua was still there, looking at him.

"Think I'm weak now?" Beat asked, too exhausted to be truly worked up over it anymore. Waking up in the middle of the night and then fighting Nightmares would have made anyone tired.

"I never said that," Joshua murmured. "I said that you were 'acting weak.'"

"What d'you mean by that?" Beat asked, frowning at Joshua now.

"Exactly what I said," Joshua replied. "Moping around never solved anything."

Beat scowled at that. "Go to hell, yo. I ain't mopin'. Now, lemme alone."

"Well, aren't you being nice…" Joshua said and rolled his eyes. "By the way, if you wanted to conceal the fact that you've been crying, you're going about it all wrong. The puffy eyes are a dead give-away."

"I wasn't cryin'," Beat said harshly. "I've told you before, I ain't scared a' nothin'!"

"You were scared…?" Joshua asked, giving Beat a level stare. At those words, Beat just sat up. He was getting angry again. Not wanting to say anything that he would regret later, Beat immediately started heading back to the Hotel. He'd lock his door and—

"Running away again?" Joshua asked, not making a move to follow. Beat halted and turned around to face him.

"I ain't running, yo! Why won't you shut up an' go screw yourself?" Beat objected, even though he knew that he was. He didn't want to admit it to Joshua, though.

"Because, I need another me to do  _that,_ " Joshua replied smoothly, a small smirk gracing his features.

"Whatever, man," Beat sighed. "Go do what you want. 'S what you do anyway."

"Well, aren't you a Negative Nancy. Where did your usual bravado go?"

"Why do you care?" Beat asked, fiddling with the chain around his neck.

Joshua shrugged. "Why can't I? Is there some hidden rule that I wasn't informed of?"

Beat went quiet at that, not sure what to say in return. An awkward silence fell over them. After a while, Joshua spoke up again.

"You do realize that what happened was not your fault, right?"

Beat had to fight to keep himself from flipping Joshua off. "Don't give me none a' that bullshit." If Joshua pitied him, if  _Joshua_  pitied him, Beat would definitely want to punch something. The idea itself made Beat's stomach hurt.

Joshua rolled his eyes again. "You think I pity you? Beat, I don't pity people."

"Then tell me what the hell you want!" Beat shouted, clenching his fists again and gritting his teeth. He felt the overwhelming need to punch Joshua in the face. To sock him, maybe knock out a tooth. It was starting to sound more and more appealing.

Joshua simply let out a weary sigh and massaged his forehead. Then he looked up with a strange sparkle in his eyes.

"How about a race? If you can beat me to the First District, then I'll tell you whatever you want," Joshua said, his infamous smirk spreading across his face.

Beat thought for a second, then gave a curt nod. "A'ight."

Joshua's smirk widened briefly before he walked over to stand beside Beat.

"All right," Joshua said. "On your mark..."

Beat shook his head frantically to clear some of the weariness out. He knew he couldn't run right if he was tired.

"Get set..."

Beat leaned forward, eagerly awaiting his victory. Joshua might be powerful, but a runner he was not.

"Go."

At hearing that word, Beat immediately sprinted forward and quickly reached the Second District. Breathing deeply, Beat felt the oxygen energize him. The straining of his muscles and the pounding of his feet against the ground drove him forward.

Seeing the entrance to the First District before him, Beat jumped up to the platform, and ran to the door. He hastily pulled it open and dashed to the main area of the First District.

To Beat's complete surprise, Joshua was waiting there for him, leaning against one of the lamp posts.

"Oh, hell no!" Beat declared, looking shocked. "I was way ahead a' you! You better not have warped or somethin'!"

"Of course not," Joshua scoffed, "You simply went the wrong way."

"I did not!" Beat said, offended at the notion. "I went through the Second District right to here!"

At that, Joshua let out a small chuckle.

"Beat, follow me." Joshua motioned for Beat to follow him and walked over to a large door. After a second, Beat recognized what it was.

"Duuuuuude, tha's not fair!" Beat objected as Joshua smiled cheerfully, opening the door slowly to reveal the Third District.

"While you were running and breaking a sweat, all I had to do was walk through this door, my dearest Beat," Joshua explained gleefully. Beat suddenly wondered if Joshua got off on doing stuff like this.

"Now, it's time for me to reap," Joshua giggled, "my rewards."

"Dude, no," Beat admonished him before he could say anything else. "Jus'...no. 'Sides... I'm the one who used t' be a Reaper. So I'd be the one reapin'."

Joshua, smirking now, continued with what he was saying earlier. "Puns aside, my winnings shall be your telling me exactly what you're afraid of."

At hearing that, Beat froze and stared at Joshua. Joshua looked back levelly, looking more serious now.

"Why do you care?" Beat asked, feeling a sense of déjà vu swamp him.

"Sorry, I can't say anything. You didn't win, remember?" Joshua said. Beat let out a frustrated noise and pulled his beanie down slightly more. Joshua was still looking up at him, his arms crossed. After Beat continued to not respond, trying to think of a way to explain exactly what he was afraid of in a way that wouldn't sound stupid, Joshua started walking over to the café across from them.

"Come along, Beat," Joshua called. Beat watched him walk for a few seconds before following.

"Why're we goin' here?" Beat asked as Joshua pulled a chair out and sat down at the table. Beat did the same and continued to look at him with a puzzled look.

"Oh, several reasons. First of all: I wanted to sit down. Second of all: I've obviously taken a romantic interest in you and decided to date you, don't forget our anniversary, dear. Our lovely wedding is going to be next week—"

"BWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Beat shouted and tried to jump back, only to get his foot caught under the leg of the table and fall down. "No, no, no, NO!"

"Beat, I—"

"I mean, we can't get married, yo! Too fuckin' young! I don't even want to date you, what the hell, I'm not gay! No way, man! Gay marriage ain't legal either, so no, no, no!" Beat continued to sputter his objections, his face quickly turning red. He couldn't help but think about what would happen if he tried introducing Joshua to his parents, oh stop!

"Why, Beat, are you  _blushing_  down there?" Joshua teased, leaning forward. "Oh, you must be attracted to me."

"I am NOT!" Beat shouted, wishing he could be anywhere but here.

"Are you sure? There seems to be a lot of blood rushing to your face. Oh dear, I'm starting to worry that your poor feet aren't getting enough blood now," Joshua giggled, leaning over the table to look at him better. Beat pulled his beanie down farther, trying to cover his face more.

"Oh, Beat, do you know how incredibly  _adorable_  you look right now?" Joshua asked.

"Sshhhhhuut uppppp!" Beat groaned and sat up, turning away from Joshua now.

Joshua's teasing continued for a bit until Beat's blush faded.

"My, my. You blush easily," Joshua said lightly as Beat directed a glare at him. "It's not like I said anything particularly graphic, or talked about how erotic our honeymoon would be."

"Dude, stop!" Beat ordered. He suddenly felt a newfound respect for Neku, who had to put up with Joshua much more than he did.

"All right, all right. I was only joking, Beat." Joshua waved his hand, as if dismissing the earlier notion of marriage.

"Dude, you got some balls pullin' this shit," Beat humphed, sitting back down on the chair.

"So you noticed," Joshua smirked, propping his head up on the table with his arm.

"A' course I noticed. I always notice stuff like that, y'know?" Beat answered honestly.

"Beat, I thought you just said that you weren't gay. How could you take explicit notice of my genitalia and not be?" Joshua teased, seemingly enjoying himself very much.

Beat looked at Joshua with a stunned look on his face, then, carefully and calmly said "Fuck you."

"Name the time and place, dear," Joshua retorted.

"A'ight, tha's it. I'm done with this, man," Beat said as he got up. He turned to go back to the Hotel and hide under his bed for the rest of the week. He heard a loud sigh behind him.

"Wait, Beat. Hold on," Joshua protested. "You still haven't told me what it is you're afraid of."

"Dude, after what you jus' did, no way in hell," Beat replied.

"Beat, you did lose, remember? That was the deal. Are you not going to go through with our wager?"

Beat turned to look back at Joshua, who had a look on his face that Beat couldn't describe. It was at that point that he remembered what Rhyme had told him about Joshua. The time he'd tried cheering Joshua up when he was moping around in the Fountain Plaza. To make Joshua feel better, Beat had challenged him to a race through the Post Office.

Beat then remembered that Joshua had challenged  _him_ to a race this time. Beat knew that Joshua could be lazy when it came to physical excursions, so why would he challenge Beat to a race?

And why did he want to know about what scared Beat so badly? Beat would have to ask Neku about it later.

"Beat, listen, I'll let you go back to your room now," Joshua said. "I'll even let the subject drop, all right?"

What? What the hell was wrong with Joshua? It unnerved Beat to see him like this.

"Dude, you ain't  _lettin'_  me do nothin'," Beat grumbled, "I do what I want."

Joshua opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Seeing that, Beat walked back over to him.

"Hey, you got somethin' t' say, say it." Beat crossed his arms and cocked his head. He wasn't as upset about Joshua's flirting anymore. Joshua flirted with everyone, so it didn't really bother Beat. There was something reassuring, knowing that Joshua wasn't actually being serious about what he said sometimes. It also felt better knowing he wasn't the only one getting flirted with by Joshua.

But if he ever found out Joshua was flirting with Rhyme behind his back, Beat wouldn't hesitate to deck him.

"Say, Beat, why  _did_  you take time out of your oh-so-busy schedule to 'drag me out of that corner?'" Joshua asked.

That? Was that what this was all about?

"'Cause I wanted t'..." Beat mumbled, shuffling his feet quietly. "I mean, I couldn't jus' leave you there all by yourself. 'Sides, Rhyme would've wanted me t' help."

"Beat, that... why  _wouldn't_ you want to leave me on my own? If you tell me why you cared about me back at that time, I'll tell you why I care at this moment..." Joshua trailed off, then scowled harshly. Beat thought he looked like he was mad at himself. Both of them were quiet for a while. Beat wasn't quite sure what to say. He wasn't sure why he cared.

"Dude... don't be gay," Beat joked, attempting to alleviated at least a little bit of the tension between them.

"Beat, don't be homophobic," Joshua countered. "Also, don't try to change the subject."

"I ain't homophobic! I'm a'ight with gay guys, I just don't want 'em flirtin' with me!" Beat frantically replied. "An' I ain't changin' the subject... jus' tryin' to make things not awkward..."

"T' answer the question..." Beat continued after a bit of silence, "I cared 'cause you was jus' alone, man. I didn't wanna leave you there 'cause then  _I'd_  be an ass. It's like this sayin' I found on the Internet, yo. 'You don't mind bein' alone, but you hate feelin' alone.' Tha's what you reminded me of. You looked like you was feelin' down, so I wanted t' cheer you up. We all in this together, y'know? None a' us are alone."

Joshua stared at Beat, and Beat couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, like Joshua was judging him.

"Well...?" Beat murmured. "What about you? You promised you'd tell me, yo."

Joshua regarded him carefully. "You cheered me up back then, so I figured I'd return the favor."

"So you'd have left me alone if I hadn't helped you...?" Beat asked, a little stunned. He'd figured that Joshua had just wanted to make an ass of himself again. But he'd actually wanted to help him? Beat blinked blankly a few times, computing this new information.

"Most likely," Joshua answered truthfully, shrugging. "Which was why I wanted to know your fears. I figured that you needed to overcome them."

"Why didn't you jus' say so, man?!" Beat walked over and smacked Joshua lightly on the back, causing Joshua to stumble forward a little. Joshua directed an annoyed look at him.

Beat didn't care, though; he just grinned down at the Composer and ruffled his hair. He was already feeling better now that things made sense. Actually, he'd been feeling better about his nightmares ever since that race earlier. It was at that point that Beat realized something about what Joshua had said.

"Wait, wait, wait, you only doin' this cause you think you owe me one?" Beat cocked his head to the side. Joshua nodded.

"Bravo, Beat," Joshua purred. "I'm proud of you."

Beat frowned at hearing that. "Hey... you didn't need t' pay me back. Didn't expect you to."

"I dislike owing people things," Joshua explained. "You helped me, I helped you."

"First of all, you pissed me off more than helpin' me. Second of all, didn't you hear me? I didn't do it so you'd owe me one. Did it so you'd be okay. Joshua, I..." Beat trailed off, noticing the confused look on Joshua's face. It faded quickly, replaced by Joshua's usual arrogance.

"Whatever the case, I still won't rest until I've helped you. So, I shall be sticking to you like glue," Joshua smirked.

"A'ight, help me by not helpin' me," Beat said frantically. The idea of having the Composer in his debt was a startling prospect; Beat was uncomfortable with it. Joshua's smirk grew wider, as if he were enjoying the sight.

"Oh, no, no. I won't have you modestly denying my newest mission. Here, I'll even give myself a time limit," Joshua drawled. "Beat, dear, do you have a pen on hand?"

Beat simply gestured to himself. He was still wearing pajamas, after all. Where did Joshua think he'd keep a pen?

"Drat, well, hold on." Joshua walked back into the café, only to return a few minutes later with a pen. Beat watched as Joshua started to scrawl something onto his palm, only to show Beat moments later.

_24:00_

"There," Joshua said decidedly, "I have one day to make you happy. This shouldn't be too hard."


	2. Lucidity

Beat stared at Joshua blankly for the first few minutes after Joshua had shown him his hand and made his announcement. Eventually, though, the reality of the situation caught up to him and Beat broke into nervous laughter.

"I fail to see what's so funny in this situation," Joshua raised his eyebrow at Beat, returning his hands to his pockets. At hearing Joshua speak, Beat sobered.

"Dude… you ain't shittin' me?" Beat questioned, backing up a little.

"Of course not," Joshua replied. "What? Are you embarrassed?"

"No! No way!" Beat waved his hands in front of himself desperately. However, the truth of the matter was that Joshua was correct. He was terribly embarrassed of the idea that Joshua would be following him around like some kind of vulture, waiting to swoop down and do something to mess with Beat's reputation or something.

"I jus' don't see the point! There's nothin' that I need help with, so I don't need your help. I gots this, man—we cool—I don't need you t' help me with nothin'! So, you can go back to chillin' or whatever it is tha' you do, yo!" Beat rambled.

"Well, you should be grateful that I have nothing else to do, Beat. It's not often that I feel obligated to do something like this. You should feel honored," Joshua said, his mouth slowly curving down into a frown. He looked disappointed to Beat. For a minute, Beat thought about it. He could probably have Joshua do almost anything for him. Of course, that was the big question. What could Joshua do for him?

Beat frowned and set to work racking his brain for ideas. In the meantime, Joshua retreated to the café and came back a few minutes later holding a steaming mug.

"Hey…" Beat finally said, "I really do 'preciate you doin' this for me, a'ight? But… I don't want anything speckle. There's nothin' that you can really give me. I mean, I want Shibuya back, but you said tha' you can't do that; we gots to wait for the Coffee Man to come get us."

"Beat... are you sure that there's nothing you want?" Joshua pestered. "I could give you money, power, women..."

"Wha— chicks? Seriously?" Beat gave Joshua a slack jawed look. "You could get me laid?"

"Actually, that's a 'no' to the women. That's a little too... morally wrong," Joshua corrected himself, getting an amused look when Beat briefly looked disappointed.

"Wait... you got morals?" Beat asked, raising his eyebrow and giving Joshua an incredulous look.

"Yes, I do." Joshua rolled his eyes a little and crossed his arms. "Nevertheless, doesn't the idea of money or power appeal to you?"

"Dude, if I wanted power, I would'a taken you down and killed you for it. But I don't. I'm cool," Beat replied. Suddenly, a wide grin appeared on his face. "Actually, how much money could you give me?"

"A bit," Joshua chuckled. "Might I know the reason? I'm perfectly happy to help you, but I want to know what you're going to do with the money."

"Well, if you give me enough, I'll help Rhyme pay 'er tuition for college," Beat said, looking absolutely pleased with himself. However, Joshua looked annoyed to Beat, which confused him.

"Beat, I will only give you money if you spend it on yourself. Perhaps getting a new skateboard or paying for your own college tuition?" Joshua said.

"I don't need a new board, mine works jus' fine. Don't need replacin' if it ain't broken. An' I probably ain't goin' t' college neither. Too stupid, y'know?" Beat chuckled. He'd come to accept the fact. Although, Joshua didn't look like he'd appreciated Beat's self-degrading humor.

"Hey, Beat, Joshua!" A new voice called over. Beat and Joshua both turned to see Shiki walking over, Mr. Mew held to her chest as usual. Whoa! Was it already the morning?

"Hey, Shiki!" Beat called back as Joshua gave a small wave.

"Omigosh, Joshua, did you get up before  _Neku_?" Shiki gasped, putting a hand over her mouth and giggling when Joshua rolled his eyes.

"Ha, ha..." Joshua said, "my sleeping habits are so amusing. I woke up because I heard Beat here stomping down the hallway like a herd of wayward elephants."

At hearing that, Shiki frowned at Beat. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, but Josh ain't leaving me alone. Says he wants to help me with my problems," Beat explained.

"It's my new mission in life. Help Beat with  _all of his little problems,_ " Joshua giggled. Shiki almost immediately erupted into a string wild giggles, glancing between the two with a knowing look.

"Beat, seriously? With Joshua? Are you feeling okay?" Shiki snickered.

Before Beat could open his mouth to ask Shiki what the hell she was talking about, Joshua was talking.

"He's feeling absolutely perfect. I, however, am feeling completely  _divine_ ," Joshua said smoothly and—Beat realized—seductively.

"NO, WE AIN'T!" Beat shouted and punched Joshua in the shoulder.

"Beat, I'm sorry, I was only kidding!" Shiki said quickly, seeing how annoyed Beat was. It was one thing for Joshua to flirt, but when one of his friends egged him on...

Beat glared at Shiki, only to stop when he saw how apologetic she looked.

"Sorry..." Shiki mumbled again.

"Hey, Shiki, it's fine." Beat patted her on the back reassuringly. "We cool."

"What? Where's my forgiveness?" Joshua put his hand over his heart and fluttered his eyelashes despondently.

"I ain't offerin'," Beat answered, ignoring the obvious façade.

"Oh, you wound me," Joshua swooned melodramatically against the lamp. Beat ignored him and turned to give Shiki his complete attention.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone," Joshua offered. "I figure you need time to think." With that said, Joshua turned and began walking away. He disappeared from view when he turned the corner and went behind the Accessory Shop. Beat and Shiki watched him go silently, then turned to each other.

"Sooo," Shiki started, "what exactly happened?"

Beat let out a sigh before relaying some of the past events: how he'd challenged Joshua to a race to cheer him up, how Joshua had returned the favor. Of course, Shiki asked what had upset him so much that  _Joshua_  needed to cheer him up, but Beat shrugged the question off. He told her that it wasn't a big deal, so she shouldn't worry. Finally, he arrived at the current issue: Joshua's turning himself in Beat's annoying personal genie.

"'Course, he's bein' picky about the wishes, an' the wishes ain't gonna backfire... 'Least, I hope not," Beat finished, then added, "He ain't lettin' me wish for money t' pay for Rhyme's tuition."

"Omigawd, Beat, you're really, really nice. I mean, if I had a wish, I'd probably wish to be the best seamstress in the world or something. Why not ask something like that? Like, to be the best skateboarder in the world?"

"I already  _am_  the best skateboarder in the world, yo. Nobody can skate like me," Beat boasted. There were a few things he was proud of, that being one of them.

"Okay, um... well... hm... this  _is_ a pretty hard question..." Shiki murmured, scratching her head a little. "Let's go ask Neku and Rhyme. Maybe they might have a good idea."

"A'ight," Beat agreed. "You know where they are?"

"Not exactly, but, come on. Let's go look around," Shiki said. Beat shrugged and decided that asking around would be better than doing nothing. With that in mind, he followed Shiki as they set off to find Neku and Rhyme.

It took a bit of time to find them, but Beat and Shiki eventually stumbled upon them playing Flick Rush at the Colosseum. Joshua was sitting in the stands, watching the two of them duke it out. Shiki and Beat sat down near him and, although Beat expected him to walk over to bother them, Joshua stayed where he was.

When the match was over—Neku being the winner—Neku and Rhyme walked over to greet Beat and Shiki. Neku also gave a quick wave to Joshua, who returned it and walked over.

"Fantastic match, you two. You both had me on the edge of my seat in anticipation," Joshua said, earning a giggle from Rhyme and an eye-roll from Neku.

"Neku, Rhyme: Beat and I wanted to talk with you," Shiki said, waving for everyone to follow her. As the group exited the Colosseum, Shiki turned to face Joshua. "Except you. This is kinda private."

"Oh, fine. I'll just return to my life of exclusion. No need to worry about any of the pesky emotions that I may harbor," Joshua sighed melodramatically.

"Good," Shiki chirped, earning a huff from Joshua as he turned to walk away. As soon as the Prissy Boy was out of earshot, Beat explained his situation to Neku and Rhyme.

"Wait, seriously?" Neku asked after Beat retold his tale. Beat just nodded and shrugged.

"I think it's nice of him," Rhyme assured, smiling a little.

"Yeah, well, I still don't know what I'm supposed to wish for, yo..." Beat mumbled. Beat was sure that if he actually didn't have a chance to wish for something that would come true he would have a million wishes.

"How about you wish for some real food?" Neku offered.

"Or a bunch of new clothes! I'm tired of wearing the same things all the time!" Shiki suggested.

"Um, guys..." Rhyme started to say, but trailed off when Neku started talking again.

"There's also wishing for a way to earn medals faster at Flick Rush..." Neku added thoughtfully.

"Wait, I know—"

"Guys!" Rhyme interrupted them both, making everyone jump. "It's Beat's wish. We should let him decide in peace. Those are all things that  _you_ guys want. I mean, they're nice and all, but he's asking for advice. 'Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.' Beat knows what he wants, he just needs to think about it."

Beat, who had been getting more and more overwhelmed by what Neku and Shiki were saying, could only nod in agreement with Rhyme. He generally agreed with everything that came out of his little sister's mouth anyway (unless it was about guys, because  _that_  sort of thing was not allowed).

Neku and Shiki both averted their eyes, looking more than a little guilty.

"Sorry, Beat..." Shiki smiled sheepishly, fiddling with Mr. Mew. "We got a little excited, that's all..."

"Take your time," Neku offered. "You're probably not going to get another chance from Joshua like this."

Rhyme, looking pleased, turned back to Beat. "You have the rest of the day to figure it out, don't you? That should be plenty of time."

At that moment, an ear-splitting roar echoed from the Fountain Plaza. One that was terribly familiar to the four friends.

Neku gasped in alarm, spinning to look in the Plaza's direction. The other three also spun to look, and Rhyme let out a loud gasp.

"Joshua's over there!" Rhyme exclaimed, and Beat took off like a bolt of lightning. He was followed closely by Neku, then by Shiki and Rhyme.

Together, the four of them burst into the Fountain Plaza. Beat, who was already the fastest of them, activated his Flowmotion and cleared the top of the large fountain. He landed in the water with a splash and hopped out of the fountain quickly. He was vaguely aware of the others making the same jump, but didn't bother turning to check on them.

Right before him was a hulking blue cat-like  _thing._  It towered over all of them and had huge yellow fangs that were covered in filth. Standing on two legs—one of them being replaced with a metal peg—it had large muscular arms and bolts sticking out of the side of its neck.

_Julius._

Joshua was already sporting a few bruises. Beat couldn't help but wonder exactly how strong that thing was if it had been able to hit the Composer. Beat charged forward, ignoring Neku and Rhyme's shouts of protest, right into the glowing blue barrier that surrounded the battle area. Winding his arm back, Beat shouted as his fist hit the barrier. Nothing.

"Ngh..!" Beat grunted, slamming his fist into the barrier again, and again, and again. From what he could see, Joshua wasn't doing too well out there. He was able to dodge most of Julius' attacks by warping directly above his fist and floating there. The main problem was that whenever Joshua had warped away, he would only have enough time to throw a few small beams of light at the hulking creature before it was charging him again. And Beat knew enough about the Composer to figure out that Joshua wasn't at his maximum strength. He was the Composer of Shibuya; Shibuya was gone.

"Beat, it's no use!" Neku snapped from behind him, reaching to pull Beat away from the barrier. "Joshua will be fine, he always is."

"'Against Julius? Dude, no fucking way am I letting him fight alone!" Beat snapped back, shrugging Neku off.

Suddenly, Beat felt a wave of strength spread through him and he noticed Rhyme next to him.

"Come on, Beat, let's break this wall," she said simply, the last remnants of a green glow fading from her form. She raised her hands and starting to fire beams of energy at the barrier.

"Let's try it, Neku," Shiki insisted. Beat didn't turn around to see his answer, but learned it soon enough when he saw Shiki and Neku on the other side of him, bashing away at the barrier that stood between them and Joshua.

Beat saw Joshua take a nasty hit and get dangerously close to hitting a wall behind him.

"Wait, guys," Rhyme piped up, "let's try attacking at the same time; that might work better."

Everyone drew back until they were almost touching the fountain, then charged with a battle cry. They slammed into the barrier as one and the wall seemed to give a little before a large blast of energy shot them all back.

"Again!" Shiki shouted, starting to back up. Everyone else followed suit and then charged the barrier once more. However, they were shot back again. They tried a few more times with the same results until Neku finally spoke up.

"Hold it-let's try Flowmotion. If we all hit it together using Flowmotion, that might be enough to break it," Neku suggested. Rhyme nodded in agreement. The four of them backed up a lot more, staring at the barrier.

"All right... do it, now!" Neku shouted, and immediately, a bright purple light erupted from the four of them. Together, they charged the barrier and slammed into it, creating a large web-like pattern where they had hit. But it didn't give way.

Beat immediately flew at the barrier, letting out a loud cry of "STUPID FUCKING WALL!" before slamming his knee into the barrier. The effect was instantaneous. There was a loud sound of something shattering before the barrier fell apart before them, revealing a very confused looking Julius. Joshua was also looking at them, a mixture of complete surprise and relief obvious on his features.

Beat, still recovering from destroying the barrier, saw Julius turn back to Joshua and swing his fist again. Before he could do anything, Shiki was running straight for them.

"Why don't you back  _off_?!" Shiki shouted, tossing Mr. Mew. The stuffed cat turned around in mid-air and intercepted Julius' fist before it could reach Joshua. Joshua looked around sharply, then hurried over to where Beat was. Mr. Mew landed on the ground, then launched himself at Julius once more, letting loose a fury of swipes. Julius stumbled back a little, then swatted the stuffed cat away, turning to Shiki to deliver a downward arcing punch.

"Watch yourself!" Neku barked, darting in front of Shiki and activating a Barrier Psych. The force of Julius' punch sent a tremor through the small barrier that surrounded Neku. Immediately, Julius recoiled, flailing his hand for a few moments as a steady stream of energy balls were launched at his face by Rhyme.

"Now we're talking," Joshua giggled and hit a few buttons on his cell phone. At that moment, the five of them were engulfed in a white light that seemed to stem from Joshua.

Beat, finally recovered, charged forward to join his friends in the fray. Julius was obviously not used to having multiple enemies and staggered back from Neku and Shiki's constant barrage. Mr. Mew clawed his leg while Neku charged his peg-leg. Rhyme kept up a steady bombardment of energy from afar. As soon as Beat got close, Neku jumped back to join Rhyme, letting out an assault of thunderbolts from his hand as he went.

Beat jumped into the air, having been given a quick boost by Mr. Mew. Julius, getting frustrated, lashed out and swung an uppercut to knock Beat away. That was when a large barrel from Joshua slammed into Julius' arm and threw his aim off, allowing Beat to get a few good punches into his face. Beat landed and hastily began his assault on Julius' leg.

At this point, Julius roared in rage and slammed his fists together, swatting Mr. Mew away and knocking Beat and Shiki back. The fist hit Beat like a ton of bricks and he hit a wall with a loud thud. Seeing stars, Beat shakily got to his feet, stumbling a little.

As soon as his head cleared, Julius was right in front of him again, hitting him into the air with a heavy uppercut. Beat shouted as he flew through the air, getting caught by some invisible force right before he hit the ground. He was righted and let go, landing easily on his feet. He looked up to see Neku dashing away from Julius, acting as bait while Rhyme charged up one of her blasts.

With a loud cry, Rhyme released the blast, which hit Julius hard before exploding into several more energy bolts. The new bolts convened back and rained down upon Julius. Julius spun to face her and jumped into the air, intending to come crashing down upon her in an elbow drop. Rhyme was barely able to back away in time to dodge, but was hit by the resulting shockwave. Julius jumped to his feet and punched Rhyme, knocking her back and causing her to yell in pain. Suddenly, to Beat, Julius was Konishi. Konishi was about to crush Rhyme under her foot.

"Take  _this_!" Beat bellowed and charged forward to defend Rhyme. He managed to knock Julius back a little bit just as a large column of white light slammed into the creature from above.

The fighting continued like this for a while; that is, until Julius, covered in electricity, let out an ear-splitting roar.

"Don't make this worse for yourself," Joshua taunted beside Neku, who quickly got out of the way when Julius charged them. Julius' fists were sparking with electricity as he unleashed a flurry of wild punches. Joshua barely managed to warp above his fists as Neku got hit by a stray bolt of lightning.

"Neku!" Rhyme shouted, throwing more energy projectiles. Julius turned to her, then turned to Shiki when she resumed attacking. Neku stumbled to his feet and quickly applied a potion.

"Joshua!" Neku shouted, throwing four more potions at the boy. Joshua quickly caught all of them with his telekinesis, applying one to himself. Leaving the other potions to float in the air, Neku and Joshua started rapidly attacking Julius. Once Julius was distracted with them, Joshua hit another button on his phone. The potions instantaneously flew toward Rhyme, Beat, and Shiki. Each of them caught their potion and used it.

Beat and Shiki ran over to Joshua and Neku to fight Julius. When they had gotten close enough, Joshua fell back beside Rhyme to attack from a distance as the electricity faded from the creature.

Using this formation, the five of them were able to whittle away at Julius. That is, until Julius—covered in electricity again—managed to group Beat, Neku, and Shiki together. Julius jumped at the three of them and Beat raised his fists to knock him back. Neku shouted at them to scatter, but they wouldn't be fast enough.

Suddenly, Joshua was between Beat and Julius. A blast of energy from Joshua knocked them all back as he took the full brunt of Julius' electric assault. The combo sent him flying through the air and Beat activated Flowmotion, jumping up to catch Joshua.

As soon as Beat's arms were secured around the boy, Julius jump up after Beat and smacked him down. Rocketing toward the ground, Beat used his momentum to turn himself in mid-air, using himself to cushion the impact for Joshua.

Beat couldn't move for a few seconds, but when he could he hopped to his feet and backed away from the fight. Joshua was out cold.

Wincing, Beat secured Joshua to his back, holding him up with both his hands. He wouldn't be able to fight like this, but Beat knew that if he left Joshua lying around, it could prove fatal.

As if sensing the weakness from Beat and Joshua, Julius did his best to make it over to them. Shiki, Neku, and Rhyme were on the defense. However, Julius would not be swayed. He howled ferociously and Beat noticed a spark of lightning lighting up above them. He jumped to the side right when the lightning streaked down. But Beat wasn't safe yet. He heard the crackling again, except louder.

"Oh, shit!" Beat shouted, activating Flowmotion to get out of the way. He heard Shiki let out a pained yelp and saw her crumple. Then, Rhyme was charging Julius, a furious look in her eyes.

Beat's eyes widened as he realized what she was going to do. Joshua wasn't the only one who had two different attacks.

She snapped her fingers and dodge-rolled under one of Julius' incoming fists, then darted between his legs. A few spots on the ground under Julius were glowing a dull yellow color. Rhyme quickly snapped her fingers again and the spots below him erupted into a fiery explosion, blowing him high into the air. Then, Neku used Flowmotion to follow him, and began slashing at Julius in a frenzy. All of them were tired; this needed to end soon.

Joshua stirred on Beat's back and Beat checked on him, seeing his eyes flutter open. There was a moment of confusion before Joshua registered what was happened. Beat slowly put him down and ran over to Rhyme, who had begun to glow. Beat gave her a curt nod, letting her power reach him.

" _ **It's the end of the line!"**_

" _ **Game over!"**_

The siblings jumped into the air and suddenly, a flurry of chains appeared, piercing Julius and holding him up. Several links of the chain were glowing that dull yellow color. Rhyme grabbed one of the chains and jumped higher into the air. She pointed her hand downward, causing several of the stars in the sky above her to glow brighter. Beat joined her in the air and dive bombed Julius. Spiraling down toward the trapped creature, Beat saw Joshua move the huge sewer lid aside directly below them.

Right as Beat's fist slammed into Julius, several streaks of light pierced Julius' huge form. Beat kicked off of him right as a few streaks of light hit the glowing chain links, making them explode. Julius howled in pain and fell, crashing down into the sewer. Joshua replaced the lid quickly, giving Beat and Rhyme a safe landing zone.

"Come on, guys, book it! I don't wanna see if he gets back up!" Neku shouted and darted for the Post Office, Shiki close behind. Beat, Rhyme, and Joshua quickly followed suit. Beat, who was the last to exit, slammed the door behind them all.

"What if he breaks through...?" Shiki whispered, looking shaken and afraid. Beat didn't blame her; he himself was shaken up by the brutal reminder not to let their guard down.

"I know where we can hide out. Me and Rhyme found this old-looking house hidden in the Third District," Neku said. "Come on, it's not too far from here."

The group followed Neku as he led them straight to the Third District, then up to a panel that had a glowing fireball inscribed upon it. Far off, Beat heard a familiar roar.

"It's right behind here..." Rhyme mumbled. Neku nodded, put his hand on the panel, and slid it aside, revealing a dark corridor. Beat exchanged looks with everyone, then followed. The tunnel emerged into a large underground lake, a small island with a house on it in the center. There were a few large rocks that seemed to float over the water, creating a path.

"Okay, the rocks move. But if we take it one at a time, we'll make it," Neku announced. "Follow my lead." With that said, Neku jumped across the rocks to the other side. The fact that the rocks moved under him didn't seem to faze him at all. Rhyme followed after Neku just as easily. Then, Shiki, Beat, and Joshua followed.

Neku led the group around to the back of the house, where there was a large hole in the wall that was covered by a tarp.

"We can crash here for a while," Neku told them. Beat, quickly learning just how tired he was, sat down against the wall and almost immediately passed out.

* * *

The first then that Beat felt when he woke up was pain. He was sore all over, and although he had been jarred wide awake by the pain, he did not want to move. He figured that, after Joshua, he had been the one who'd been hit the most by Julius. At least he hadn't passed out.

Beat heard someone else let out a groan and opened one eye. He saw Joshua beginning to stir; Joshua's eyes flew open.

"Hey, you a'ight...?" Beat asked, noticing a second later that Neku wasn't around. It figured that he'd wake up first; he hadn't been hit as much as the rest of them. Shiki and Rhyme were still sleeping nearby.

"I should be asking  _you_  that question," Joshua replied, not making any move to get up either. "I'm the Composer, in case you've forgotten. I can take a quite a few hits."

Beat grunted in response and the two of them fell into silence, listening to the quiet that surrounded them. The silence was abruptly cut off as Beat heard rustling coming from Joshua. He turned his head to look at him, seeing Joshua fish his cell phone out of his pocket. Beat watched him flip it open.

"Looks like I only have an hour left to fulfill my self-assigned mission. Beat, I don't suppose I've made you happy  _at all_  in the past few hours we've been fighting Julius or been unconscious?" Joshua questioned, a small sarcastic smile gracing his lips. Beat just shrugged at him, despite the pain the simple action caused.

"Drat." After a moment of silence, Joshua continued speaking. "It's rather silly, actually. The more I interact with you, the more indebted to you I become."

"What d'you mean?" Beat stared at Joshua, cocking his head to the side a little.

"Very well, I'll spell it out for you," Joshua muttered. "If you had not broken that wall, it's unlikely that we would be talking right now. I would have been erased by that monstrosity. If you had not caught me when I was knocked unconscious, I probably would have been erased. It was a team effort to take down Julius, Beat, and you contributed a big part."

For a second, all Beat could do was stare. Not just in shock, but in awe. What Joshua said made sense to him. He'd saved Joshua's life. Suddenly, his nightmare didn't seem as terrifying anymore, because Beat  _had_  saved Neku, he  _had_  saved Joshua,  _and he had saved_   _Rhyme_!

With that in mind, Beat started laughing loudly, not caring if it hurt to shake so much. That didn't matter because he'd done it! A warm feeling spread through Beat and he hopped to his feet, fist pumping and shouting, "Fuck yeah!"

Of course, Rhyme and Shiki were jarred awake by Beat's rambunctious laughter. They stared in confusion at the skater. Beat just grinned wider and gave both of them hugs. Then he ambled over to Joshua and gave him a hug, too.

Beat noticed the tarp that covered the exit beginning to move, showing Neku carrying a few cans of food. Upon seeing the two boys hugging, Neku froze. He looked absolutely confused. Beat let go of Joshua and quickly walked over to Neku, giving him a hug as well, because  _why the hell not?_

"I take it that I successfully cheered you up?" Joshua inquired, a small smirk spreading across his face.

"Cheered up?" Neku questioned. Neku, Shiki, and Rhyme all gave Beat a confused look.

"I thought you were granting him a wish..." Rhyme looked between Joshua and Beat.

"Beat...!" Joshua said in a fake scolding tone. "I cannot believe it. You seem to have convinced everyone that I'm some sort of genie!"

Beat just started laughing again. It felt so good, like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Even though they were all hiding in a cave from Julius, Beat had never felt better.

_~End~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I have Joshua bitch about Julius in basically every story that I write for them in Traverse Town, so I figured it was about time he showed his ugly mug. Also, I wanted to make Rhyme a badass ninja-like fighter. Did I succeed? Anything that I can improve on?
> 
> If anyone cares, this is what was basically in Neku's command deck/pin slots:
> 
> Creepy Weepy Barrier (Hurts Enemies and Heals User)  
> Wolf (Velocity Attack)  
> Potions (5)  
> Yoshimitsu (Slash Attack)  
> Ovis (Thunderbolt)  
> Pteropus (Boomerang)
> 
> This was a lot of fun to write, actually. I just love the way Joshua and Beat's personalities clash. It's lovely.


End file.
